After a year and a half of grieving my 6.5 yr old APBT who passed of Lymphoma, I recently rescued a 4 month old APBT from a shelter near Stockton, CA. He seems real healthy and has a great personality/temperament so far, and I am a pretty critical dog owner

My question is: The shelter was feeding Iams Proactive Health Puppy which I know is crap. They told me to gingerly feed him part Iams and part my food I normally feed my dogs (Canidae). Well I am out of the Iams now and don't really want to buy more, rather just feed him Canidae....is he gonna trip out and have Parvo-like symptoms? The vet said if you upgrade the food it should be OK, but I wanted feedback from yall.

Also, I am crazy paranoid about Parvo and the vet in Stockton said Parvo was crazy bad this year. I live in Sacramento, but have an apartment so I have to take him out around the neighborhood to go to the bathroom. The vet recommended using anti-bacterial wipes on his paws if he goes through grass areas where other dogs go...

Hes had 2 sets of shots at the shelter and was dewormed, but the lil stinker has demo so they wouldnt give him the 3rd vaccine on Monday. They gave me this oral solution for the demo and I'm going back next week for more shots.

if he's been doing alright on the mixed food he should be alright to go fully onto the other food. Generally it's suggested that food switches be gradual, so you would start with mostly the old food and then work your way to half and half and then to mostly new food before getting rid of the old entirely. It sounds like that's what you've been doing more or less. He may still have some loose stool or gas while his system is fully adjusting to the new food but that should be about it.

As for the Parvo I would suggest carrying him to a safe potty spot, letting him go and then picking him up and taking him home butI don't have a ton of experience with puppies so hopefully someone else will chime in on that one.

You definitely should not be walking your pup around. Especially since the vet warned about the chances of being infected. Wipes on the paws will not help against infection. Any place where other dogs have access is a potential infection area.

If your pup has a sensitive digestive system, he might get the runs from going to the new food. One of my dogs was fine switching over, but the other one had to do it gradually, or she would get loose poop. They're all different.

Parvo symptoms are not the same as upset belly from new food. Puking, tiredness, copper smelling breath, diarrhea are symptoms of parvovirus. Do not wait a few days to be sure, it will be too late by then.

Booties won't help. If a puppy is stepping in the poop, it's nose is close enough to the ground to sniff and inhale the virus. That's how they often get it. They also get it from infected ground, with no poop around at all. I've lost a few puppies to parvovirus that never came into contact with other dogs or poop. It was in the ground.

found this quote similar in several articles : " Right now, it is currently being studied if the parvo virus is actually an airborne disease, because there are instances of contagion with airborne associations."

Prevention: Thoroughly clean and disinfect the quarters of infected animals. Parvo is an extremely hardy virus that resists most household cleaners and survives on the premises for months. The most effective disinfectant is household bleach in a 1:32 dilution. The bleach must be left on the contaminated surface for 20 minutes before being rinsed.

Nevertheless, it is still important to isolate young puppies as much as possible from other dogs and from potential sources of infection until they complete the parvo vaccination series at 16 weeks of age.

** personally, I would use both the booties and carry a folded piece of cardboard for the pup to go on... stick to the sidewalks, stay away from any grassy area an animal may have deficated... until he is all caught up with shots and they have had the needed time to take effect.